this is bbc news. i'm clive myrie. the headlines at 11:00: more than a0 year later — a self—confessed ira bomb maker admits being part of the group that killed 21 people in the birmingham pub bombings — we'll have a special programme at 11:30. a conservative mp is suspended from the party after a recording emerged of her using a racially offensive term. the judge hearing the case of the terminally ill baby charlie gard, says he'll need "dramatic and new" evidence to change his mind, and allow experimental treatment in america. police say 255 people survived the grenfell tower fire. the number of dead or missing remains around 80. president trump says he didn't know his son had met a russian lawyer with links to the kremlin, during the america's election campaign. a man who's confessed

to being an ira bomb maker, has told bbc news he was part of the group responsible for one of the deadliest acts of the troubles, the birmingham pub bombings in 197a. michael hayes says he was an "active volunteer" on the night of the attacks, when 21 people were killed and more than 180 others were injured. a year after the bombing, six men were wrongfully convicted, and today, no—one has been brought to justice. now, michael hayes has apologised to the families of those who were killed, but refused to say exactly what role he played. relatives of the victims have described his apology as "insulting". 0ur ireland correspondent chris buckler reports. the bombs were left in the heart of

birmingham ona the bombs were left in the heart of birmingham on a thursday night. placed inside pubs to cause destruction. explosions that lead to 21 deaths. in the same year, 1974, michael hayes took part in this funeralfor a michael hayes took part in this funeral for a hunger strike in london. he was a well—known republican and admitted ira maker convicted of paramilitary offences in the republic of ireland. and now, four decades after the murders in birmingham, he has emerged again to admit he was part of the group that bombed the city. were complicit in activities in birmingham. did you plant the bombs? i was a participant did it you are not answering the question. he has, in the past, ian

questioned and named in the bombings but he has never been charged. even 110w but he has never been charged. even now he will not say what role he played in the ira attack but he says he takes collective responsibility for it. i apologise. not he takes collective responsibility for it. iapologise. not only he takes collective responsibility for it. i apologise. not only for myself, i apologise for all the republicans who had no intention of hurting anybody. i sympathise with you. and the relatives will say you have blood on your hands. you. and the relatives will say you have blood on your handslj you. and the relatives will say you have blood on your hands. i know they will say that from their point of view i can justify that. i don't shirk my responsibility. a group of men were charged and found guilty of the bombing. but it was a famous miscarriage of justice. the bombing. but it was a famous miscarriage ofjustice. the convictions of the men who became known as the birmingham six were eventually overturned. for 16.5

yea rs eventually overturned. for 16.5 years we eventually overturned. for 16.5 yea rs we have eventually overturned. for 16.5 years we have been used as political scapegoats. west midlands police said tonight that the investigation into the 21 murders remains open. 0ne into the 21 murders remains open. one of those who died was maxine. her sister was among a group of relatives who watched the interviews this afternoon. his words and apology was nothing but anger. he is apology was nothing but anger. he is a coward, short and simple. he reckons he would rather die than be in an informer but he is more than happy to take collective responsibility for the murder of innocence in birmingham. michael hayes avoided many questions. that he claims mistakes led to the ira giving warnings too late and that he personally defused a third bomb left in the city that night. the explosions were horrific. they were terrible. when we found out what had

happened, we diffuse the third bomb. who defused it? i did. many in modern—day birmingham will question why he has come forward now, particularly as no—one has ever been held legally responsible for murdering the 21 people who died on a night out in this city. and you can see more on this tonight in a special programme "who bombed birmingham?" at 11:30 here on bbc news. stay with us for that. a conservative mp who used racist language at a public meeting on brexit has been suspended from the parliamentary party. the prime minister said the comment by anne marie morris was "completely unacceptable" and she was having the whip withdrawn. it comes after the prime minister's offer to opposition parties to work with the government on major issues was rebuffed by labour who said her party "had completely run out of ideas". here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. the prime minister trying to stride

out in front. a visit from an old friend, by chance, the australian prime minister. and offered to her political enemies, asking the opposition to contribute. but then this. and mp caught on tape using offensive language. it emerged that while theresa may was on her seat in the house of commons. mps wise to what was going on were quick to press are. asking if, in theory, there had been racism, should the corporate face action? the sheer greed when that happens organisations should take decisive and swift action? it is to holden on us and swift action? it is to holden on us all to make sure we use appropriate land which at all times.

the prime minister immediately decided to suspend her from the tory party. it is not yet clear for how long. she has apologised unreservedly. absolutely appalling. it is the very worst word, the most deeply offensive and horrible word anybody can use. i apologise on her behalf it was she should never have used that expression, she should never have a use word. no—one should. it is a horrible word. so, for now, theresa may loses even one more from her tiny advantage. was no majority to call her own, theresa may is now calling on the opposition to help her out. the government is 110w to help her out. the government is now apparently asking other parties for their policy ideas. if the prime minister would like it, i am very happy to furnish her with a copy of oui’ happy to furnish her with a copy of our election manifesto. yet in her own party, the tories want to see not just reaching out

own party, the tories want to see notjust reaching out to others but listening to her own side. you want the opposition to contribute as well as good size, you are expected to say tomorrow. what do you say to your own critics, including those in your own critics, including those in your party, who say it is you who needs to change? the government hasn't had vicious and gender. won their two address the challenges that the country faces, including getting the brexit negotiations right that there are other challenges that face the country as well. i think the public will rightly want us to get the broadest possible consensus on looking at those issues. she has a lot of convincing to do. for this prime minister, her authority cracked by the election, there are no easy gave. —— days. the parents of the terminally ill baby, charlie gard have returned to the high court to present new evidence of an experimental treatment in america — which they say — could help him. great 0rmond street hospital in london, which is treating the boy, says the therapy is unjustified. but charlie's parents both interrupted the court hearing

accusing the hospital of lying to thejudge. 11—month—old charlie is suffering from a rare genetic condition and has brain damage. 0ur medical correspondent, fergus walsh reports. vocal, passionate and determined. the perrins of charlie gard has considerable support. it includes a donald trump and the pope. and now this pro—life evangelical preacher, who was once jailed for anti—abortion protests in the united states, and has been praying by his bedside. if a court, if a judge, states, and has been praying by his bedside. if a court, if ajudge, if a hospital official can come and tell a parent that they don't have the right or the authority to provide the kind of medical care that their child needs, then pa rental that their child needs, then parental rights are under attack and around the world, the fabric of our society unravels. under uk law, where parents and doctors can not

ee, where parents and doctors can not agree, a judge must decide what treatment is appropriate. charlie is so treatment is appropriate. charlie is so weak economic move. he has serious brain damage and may be in pain. four different courts ruled he should be allowed to die with dignity. but today the case went back to the high court after hospitals in italy and the united states said there was fresh evidence and experimental therapy may help him. thejudge said there and experimental therapy may help him. the judge said there was and experimental therapy may help him. thejudge said there was no person alive who did not want charlie to get better. he would be delighted to change his ruling. that it had to be on the basis of clear evidence. he said he had to consider the view of the hospital that everyday the past inflicted more suffering on charlie. charlie has a rare inherited condition. mitochondria are found in nearly every cell and provide energy to the body. but charlie's do not function so body. but charlie's do not function so his muscles and organs of a wasted. there is a therapy involving

powder in food to boost mitochondrial function and has a few months to take effect. his parents claimed there was new evidence that the treatment could have a 10% chance of success. so far 18 patients have been treated but a crucial, none has charlie's genetic mutation or his severe brain damage. there are many unknowns here and i think that doctors and nurses looking after him, they really will have considered all these processes because that is what they do. that is their dayjob. in fact they are the most expert people in the world. charlie's parents left saying they hoped to persuade the judge to allow them to take their son abroad when them to take their son abroad when the hearing resumes on thursday. a case which has attracted huge international attention. mum and dad say that charlie is still fighting and they will still fight. his pa rents and they will still fight. his parents wish to thank millions of

supporters of baby charlie from around the world. meanwhile, charlie continues to receive round—the—clock ca re continues to receive round—the—clock care at great 0rmond street hospital. the metropolitan police now say they believe around 255 people managed to escape the fire at grenfell tower last month. the official estimate of the dead and missing remains at approximately 80. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds has the latest from scotland yard. in the days after the fire, local people estimated that between five and 600 people were residents at rental tower. today police believe the true figure was much lower, and they say 14 of those people were out on the night of the fire. they also say that their new figures, 255 people having escaped the fire, and 80 or 81 having been killed all still being missing, to add up. there is a big investigation continuing. officers working inside

the tower in a place where temperatures reached 1000 degrees, looking for human remains. also a big investigation of the 60 or so companies who were involved in running and refurbishing the tower. they say they are intent on getting to the bottom of it. the commander in charge of the investigation says you cannot listen to the families and not want to hold people to account for a fire that should not have happened. the white house has tried to play down the revelation that donald trump's son had a meeting last year with a russian lawyer who said she had damaging material about hillary clinton. it took place during the presidential campaign and plays into concerns that the trump's inner circle had developed connections with russia. our chief correspondent gavin hewitt reports. this is donald trump's eldest son. i'm donald trump jr. lastjune, after his father's nomination, he met with a russian lawyer who promised damaging material on hillary clinton's campaign.

the meeting was here at trump tower in new york. until this weekend, trump junior hadn't mentioned it, but it wasn't a casual encounter, he brought along trump's campaign manager and his son—in—law. then his story has changed. on saturday he said, "we primarily discussed a programme about the adoption of russian children." by the following day he said, "the woman lawyer stated that she had information that individuals connected to russia were funding the democratic national complete and supporting mrs clinton." he was told there would be information that may be helpful to the campaign. there was no such information. again i want to ask you a question, if we are going to use the word collusion, where is the evidence of collusion. trump junior pushed back sarcastically on twitter today to say "obviously i'm the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting to hear information about an opponent. on friday, president trump met president putin and asked him directly about meddling in the election campaign.

putin denied it. it's not clear how forcefully president trump pursued this, but there was an agreement between the two leaders that it was time to move forward. news of trump junior‘s russian meeting doesn't put president trump in immediatejeopardy. he says he has no knowledge of it. but it keeps open the central question that has dogged this administration. was there collusion between the trump campaign team and the russians? it promises months of further investigations. trump junior called the latest revelations a big yawn. but it is the first confirmed meeting between members of the trump inner circle and a russian national. the senate intelligence committee says it wants to speak to donald trumer. for the president, it's a reminder that not everything goes his way. gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington. the headlines on bbc news: more

than 40 years later, a self—confessed ira bomb maker admits being part of the group that killed 21 people in the birmingham pub bombings — we'll have a special programme at 11:30. a conservative mp is suspended from the party after a recording emerged of her using a racially—offensive term. the judge hearing the case of the terminally ill baby charlie gard, says he'll need dramatic and new evidence to change his mind and allow experimental treatment in america. let's have a quick look at some of tomorrow mornings front pages. the telegraph leads with a warning from teaching bodies of a risk to the education system, following the government's announcement that the 1% pay cap will stay for teachers. the metro's front page has the suspension of the mp anne marie morris from the conservative party, for using a racially offensive word.

the ft shows an image of the russian lawyer who is reported to have met with president donald trump's son. drinking coffee could lead to a healthier life, says the daily express. the guardian says the pressure is mounting on theresa may, as it accuses the pm of insulting teachers by offering them a 1% pay rise. the times headlines news that a tory pledge to build more free schools could be scrapped due to budgetary concerns. and the daily mail has the charlie gard story on its front page — including a warning from the judge that he won't be influenced by tweets. in what's become britain's longest—running extradition case, a scottish man has lost his legal battle against being sent to the us. philip harkins, who's 38, denies shooting a man dead during a robbery in florida in 1999. he has been fighting extradition since 2003. now, the european court

of human rights has ruled that his rights would not be breached if he were jailed for life without parole in florida. the high court has ruled that government arms sales to saudi arabia are lawful and shouldn't be halted. it follows a case brought by a pressure group, campaign against the arms trade. it argued that the uk had broken international humanitarian law by selling weapons that had been used to kill civilians in yemen, where the saudis have conducted air strikes against rebels. it's called the gig economy, where millions of people are caught in a grey area of working flexibly but without the usual workplace protections. they are considered neither fully employed nor self—employed. tomorrow a degree of clarity might be introduced after an employment review has looked at some of the issues raised around this particular labour market — and it's expected to demand a radical overhaul of employment law with new guarantees on the minimum wage.

lucas is one of more than a million people in the uk who get paid not by the hour, but by the task. that flexibility suits him, but if it's a slow day or he gets stuck in traffic, he is the one who loses. on a good day, if you work around ten hours, we can do around 150. when it isa hours, we can do around 150. when it is a slow day, we can only do around 70, working 14 hours, 11 hours. sometimes you spend two hours on one job. so, it's not that good when it's not busy. if he gets sick or have an accident, lucas won't have an income. tomorrow, a review is expected to classify workers like him not as self—employed, but has dependent contract is, in tighter to be paid at least the minimum wage.

the fear of gig economy companies is that they might have to pay workers who are dust online, rather than actually work. there is a compromise being proposed where they'd be required to prove that workers could earn substantially more than the minimum wage in a reasonable time. the report is expected to say that if gig economy companies such as uber, they will have to show that workers earn at least a fifth more than those on wage work.l workers earn at least a fifth more than those on wage work. a piece rate approach could be a step backwards. we know that approach was taken for backwards. we know that approach was ta ken for cleaners backwards. we know that approach was taken for cleaners in hotels, they could not clean enough rooms in an hour to qualify for their rights. there are also uber drivers and other delivery drivers who could be expected to travel so far and quickly across london that they would not qualify for the minimum wage. gig companies are popular

because they are cheap. they avoid paying employers national insurance. it is unlikely that wages for workers can be stepped up without some increased cost for consumers. and now for the weather. for many of us, sunny spells and scattered showers. some heat, highs of 27 degrees in the south—east. tomorrow we will be lucky if we see 21 degrees. some heavy rain to go with it as well. showers today, some heavy with thunder across east anglia. hit and heavy with thunder across east anglia. hitand miss. heavy with thunder across east anglia. hit and miss. through the night, cloud and rain gathering from the west. daily life and patchy to begin with, tapping up through the day tomorrow. overnight lows 8— 15 degrees. starting tomorrow morning

with some outbreaks of rain. light and patchy, drifting and radically east. some rain around for wimbledon, but perhaps some finer weather through the day before the heavier and persistent rain pushes into the south—west. scotland and northern ireland see the best of the brightness. top temperatures, 14— 20 degrees. hello. this is bbc news. the silk road is that chinese project of the century and the president wants to spend on a road and rail project that will cost 60 countries. it is said that his bid for strategic influence could leave other countries with costly debt for yea rs other countries with costly debt for years to come. to understand these ambitions, our editor has been travelling the length of the silk

road. she began in eastern china, where the new rail route starts and finishes from the uk. they call them the ships of the desert. for centuries, the camel trains of the silk road dominated trade between china and the west. now china wants to recreate the silk road. this time, by train. when wu xiaodong started here 34 years ago, china sold the world next to nothing. now he is a foot soldier for a trading superpower. i asked how that had changed him. translation: we are under a lot of pressure, expectations are high, but there is also a lot of hope. we need the train to develop faster and better. the pressure is coming from the top.

not led by merchants, but by a president. chinese emperors once claimed to rule all under heaven. with the united states no longer leading on trade, president xi has seized his chance. he calls his vision the belt and road. china's belt and road vision is so vast it may be decades before we can tell whether it is a worthy successor to the ancient silk road. but what we can say is that with no other country offering a big idea right now, this is the most ambitious bid to shape our century. already, china shapes our material lives. this is one of the biggest markets in the world. but selling abroad and building at home is no longer enough to keep this giant economy growing. now it plans to build abroad, too.

a win—win for all, says china. 7,200. 0k. but when the talking is done, chinese traders drive a hard bargain. 1,475? come on. for an old friend. the world buys much more from them than the other way around. red tape can make importing a nightmare. the government can change the law at any time, so there is no real concrete law. it is a very grey area at the moment. if the government made it a little bit more clear on how to go about it, it would be a bit easier. but the new silk road is china solving china's problems, money and muscle heading west on a journey across three continents, bidding to redraw the map and command the century. hello.

this is bbc news. the headlines: more than 40 year later, a self—confessed ira bomb maker admits being part of the group that killed 21 people in the birmingham pub bombings. the conservative mp anne marie morris has had the party whip suspended, after using a racially offensive phrase. she has apologised unreservedly for the remark. the judge hearing the case of the terminally ill baby charlie gard says he'll need dramatic and new evidence to change his mind and allow experimental treatment in america. now on bbc news, a special programme. the 1974 ira birmingham pub bombings led to one of the single largest losses of life in the troubles. tonight a self—confessed ira bomb—maker says he was part of the group which planned and carried out the attacks, and offers an apology to the victims' families. here's kevin magee's report: who bombed birmingham?

london, 1974. irish republicans stage an act of defiance. this display was at the funeral of ira man michael gaughan. these pictures give a rare glimpse into the secret world of the ira in england. one of these men was an active member of one of the ira's most notorious units. this man has told us he was part of the ira group that planned and blew up two pubs in birmingham in1974, killing 21 people — then the worst act of mass murder carried out on british soil. this is the same man 43 years later, walking through dublin. his name is michael christopher anthony hayes. the ira campaign may be over, but mick hayes clings to the uniform of his paramilitary past. he's been accused of being one of those who planted the birmingham pub bombs — but has never faced charges. he says he was an active volunteer

in the city the night the bombs exploded. tonight, he breaks his silence about his ira past. i take absolute, total collective responsibility — and, yes, i feel justified in being part of any part of the ira that operated in england. there was no intention of the ira to kill innocent people. that wasn't meant. that wasn't done. it wouldn't have been done, if that was the case. did you plant a bomb... i'm... ..in the tavern in the town... i'm not telling you, no. ..or the mulberry bush? i'm not telling you. my role? i was an active volunteer. strike england. to bring the focus of the war... to the attention of the english people.